Martin shooting on the German TV news, a TWO MINUTE SEGMENT !

And what did they end it with? An assessment of today's America: race, guns, and police corruption. Rather a broad generalization, but when incidents like this happen, the guilty walk, and the cops cover it up, this is the image we project to the world. I've been doing a LOT of damage control over here for the last 30 odd years, but it's an uphill battle sometimes.

2. well if we say we are then it makes it true.

see, i say i am a good singer and it makes me a good singer!! so what if others don't agree! it's a shame this is what we have become here. We may be a city on a hill.... but when you look closer we are a dysfunctional city on a hill with big potholes in the roads and some pretty clueless residents.

3. Germans especially are rather cool to claims of "greatest country in the world."

They remember very well what happened when a manic took over here and convinced much of the population that Germany was the greatest country in the world.

I'm only with you partially on the part about "America deserves to be ridiculed." Those Americans who claim we are the greatest for no other reason than that we are a relatively wealthy nation with a powerful military are talking out of their asses. Money and guns don't make you great, they just make you rich and dangerous.

We are great when we revere Tom Paine and Thomas Jefferson, not Ronald Reagan and Dick Cheney.